"My husband told me that he could have fried an egg on top of his car yesterday in Long Beach.  Today is is supposed to be 94 in Huntington Beach. Do you wish a bag? "
   "Why thank you. I only came in because your bananas are only 19 cents each and I needed a dozen eggs. In my will I told my daughter to have me embalmed here at Trader Joe's. It is the coldest store this side of Alaska. Thank you..ah Maggie." (She wore a name plate.)
    I had spent a sleepless night across the street at the Five Points Apartments. They finally got around to cleaning the outside air generator and placed a new screen on my back bedroom. Of course with the high cost of electricity who wants to use the air.  I hoped that the air had been turned on upstairs in the library -- but no such luck. Everywhere I turned the heat got to me.
    And to think that few homes in Huntington Beach have air conditioning. The people here still live in the Bronze Age, long before the age of Global Warming Age. . Why they even built the library here with windows everywhere. In the afternoon, the temps inside  hover around eighty on the top floors.. I even need to use sun screen inside.
   But lets leave the negative and get out of the heat -- or try to. Even the Rodger's Senior Center does not provide air conditioning. Today I will be remove myself from their lunch program and stay here till I go to Whole Foods later in the day.
   And speaking of the Senior Center, I sure enjoy playing the piano and socializing a bit. Most of those who partake in the lunch program are like Margie. She avails herself every Thursday to play Bridge here. Let's tune into our conversation yesterday.
     "Hey Margie, the other day I got creamed at the I HOP. There was a scrabble tournament and  I just don't how they came up with all them words with 'Q's or 'X's. Bet you can't spell the letter 'Q'?
      Now I should have known better since she was working a cross-word puzzle.
      "Bet I can. It is 'queue'. And it also means standing in line..."
       Well I wished to know more about Mildred, somewhere in her eighties, the median age at the Rodger's Senior Center. And by and by, she used her own feet to walk.
       "May I ask what you did for a living? Did you drive a tow truck?"
       "I was a house wife for thirty five years until my husband Franklin died. His pension ran out so I worked as a secretary for an accounting firm. We had a good marriage since he allowed me to play bridge three times a week....Got to go now, my bridge club is waiting.
 That exchange occurred yesterday when Huntington Beach singed to 88 degrees. I have never seen one so calm as Mildred. I wonder if anything fazes her except finding a word for her cross-word puzzle.
So keep cool and relax since summer time in Southern California is all year-round.